Monthly Archives: April 2010

Reading a number of articles and blog posts regarding the Dow sponsorship of the Live Earth event, Run for Water, I began to side with the vast number of people who criticized both Live Earth and Dow for the partnership that paired a clean water initiative with one of the worlds largest chemical producers.

After all, Dow has been linked to the pollution of the world’s water time and again, and is often the bane of environmental organizations from every corner of the globe. So why is an organization like Live Earth partnering up with a company that is looked down on by so many? Do they really expect people to believe that Dow is helping the environment? Isn’t this just Greenwashing?

Well, the more I thought about it, I began to look at the partnership differently and discovered why it is important that Dow is involved. Yes, of course Dow is a major polluter and while this is not to be taken lightly, isn’t it a step in the right direction if they are willing to help a organization that does so much good? Also, if you take the time to check out Dow’s other environmental initiatives (http://www.dow.com/commitments/ ); it seems they do have a plan in motion to improve their company.

So how can Live Earth and Dow combat naysayers? Well for starters, the property could do a better job of promoting their partnership and make sure the public knows that Dow is taking steps in the right direction, not just writing checks. After all, if Live Earth does not make the most of its partnership with Dow, chances are that they might lose their support in the future.